Greatness Keeps Seeking Greater Minds
Rav Ezra explained that Koheles was great because, as his wisdom grew, he still stayed close to ordinary people and taught them.
Rav Ezra once explained the verse that Koheles was a sage who also taught the people. The verse seems to say something obvious, since the more a person knows, the more he teaches. Rav Ezra said this is not obvious at all. The more a person knows, the more he naturally looks for those of equal or greater learning to speak with, and the ordinary people around him drop out of view. Koheles' greatness was that as his knowledge grew, he did not withdraw. He kept in touch with the common man and taught him what he knew. Those who knew Rav Ezra saw in this a portrait of the rosh yeshivah himself, who rose to greet every visitor, learned or not, and whose home was open to everyone.
Source: Koheles 12:9, as Rav Ezra explained it, in "Rav Ezra Attia: Builder of Torah," The Jewish Observer, September 1985 (p. 19)
If you know more than the people around you, in Torah, in a trade or in raising children, notice whether you have drifted away from them. This week, sit with someone who knows less and explain one thing in plain words, without hurrying. When someone comes to your door or your table, stand up to greet them as though they were your equal. Keep learning from those who are greater, and keep a place in your day for those who are still beginning.